Maryland Public Radio Corp., a community-based
non-profit group, has today signed a letter of intent to
purchase WJHU-FM from The
Johns Hopkins University.

The signing of the letter begins a 30-day period during
which MPR will seek to finalize its financing and both
parties will work to complete negotiations. By the end of
that time, Maryland Public Radio and the university expect
to sign a sale agreement, which would be subject to approval
by the university's board of trustees and by the Federal
Communications Commission. Terms of the proposed sale have
not been disclosed.

"The university's goals in this process have been to
ensure that Baltimore is served by a quality public radio
station featuring NPR news and information programs, that
there is significant community input into directions the
station will take, and that station management is committed
to improving an already fine radio service," said James T.
McGill, the university's senior vice president for finance
and administration.

"Maryland Public Radio fits the bill on every count,"
McGill said. "The group has the right experience and the
right commitment to a public radio service that really
serves the community."

The possibility of a sale arose in March, when Johns
Hopkins disclosed that groups had expressed interest in
either acquiring WJHU or partnering in the operation of the
station. The university said then that it would consider
whether to sell. It said radio is not part of its core
mission and that there are competing needs within the
university for the capital investment that WJHU needs to
remain a first-class radio service.

Johns Hopkins University news releases can be found on the
World Wide Web at
http://www.jhu.edu/news_info/news/
Information on automatic e-mail delivery
of science and medical news releases is available at the
same address.